FACES CHANGE, BUT ANTAGONISM STILL THE STATUS QUO FOR ARLINGTON BOARD

A victor has emerged from Arlington Heights' acrimonious mayoral race, but it looks like old resentments may be igniting another civil war on the reconstructed Village Board.

This week, newly elected Village President Arlene Mulder ruffled a few trustee feathers when she appointed Trustee Kathie Hahn, a major supporter during the race, to serve as president pro tem and to chair the Finance Committee.

And newcomers Martin Agran and Stanley Eisenhammer were tapped to chair the Community Services and Public Health and Safety Committees, while veteran Stephen Daday, an attorney, will head the Legal Committee.

That left trustees Tom Stengren and Thomas Hayes, who supported Mulder foe Michael Schroeder in the election, out of the loop, and none too happy about it.

"It's unfortunate that . . . some people are suffering on account of political outcomes here," said Hayes, who, along with Stengren, voted against the committee appointments. Daday voted against the committee chair appointments.

A simple majority vote is needed to pass the recommendations.

Hayes said that Mulder should have selected a president pro tem with more experience on the board than Hahn, who has been a trustee for two years.

Mulder, for her part, said she made her choices based on leadership and experience.

"Trustee Hahn is very capable of serving in this position and would provide the continuity that is needed," she said.

The election may have brought two new players to the table, but the old members appear to be holding fast to their old game of divided loyalties.

Indeed, grumbling and finger-pointing is nothing new for the Arlington board. The village has been raked with controversy for more than a year, with trustees squabbling over whether to impose a sales tax or award a liquor license to the nightclub owners of the Big Kahuna or allow alcohol to be served at the Frontier Days Festival.

But those were mere trifles compared to the brouhaha over the Fire Prevention Bureau, where village officials and fire inspectors sparred over fire prevention procedures.

Village manager Kenneth Bonder eventually resigned over the controversy, and the bureau was dismantled. And it became clear that issues have a tendency to get caught in the crossfire between the Village Board factions.

When former Village President William Maki stepped down last December to serve as Cook County Circuit Court judge, things heated up once again when trustees Mulder, Schroeder and Julia Walsh threw their hats into the ring. Schroeder, who was appointed to serve as interim president, virtually ran as the incumbent.

The race proved to be a bitter one from the start. Schroeder stirred up further trouble when he decided to resolve a legal dispute over the Big Kahuna. His decision irritated many village residents-not to mention opponents-when he agreed to an out-of-court settlement.

His fate seemed sealed when, less than a week before the election, he angered Arlington International Racecourse officials when he distributed a campaign flier that suggested the racetrack wanted to open a casino at the track.

Under village ordinance, Mulder has to nominate, with concurrence from the rest of the board, which trustees will serve on which of the four standing committees, and also who will chair the committees. She also has to nominate a president pro tem from the board, who will conduct board meetings if she is absent.

Stengren said that Mulder has missed a chance to put the divisiveness of the past behind the board.

"It was her opportunity to build a consensus on the board, and she chose not to do so," Stengren said.